Introduction to Formulas

Last Modified on 01/08/2019 2:18 pm MST

Understand formula templates and formula instances

Introduction to Formulas

In Cloud Elements you can build formula templates, reusable workflow templates that are independent of API providers. Formula templates include triggers, like events or schedules, that kick off a series of steps. Formulas support a large variety of different use cases across different services. For example, they can keep systems in sync, migrate data between systems, or automate business workflows.

After you build formula templates, you can use the templates to create formula instances. In formula instances, you replace the variables in the templates with actual elements and values.

Formulas are a great way to move the logic out of your apps and into Cloud Elements. This helps keep your code less complex and more maintainable so you can focus on meeting your customers' needs.

Example

We give detailed examples of formulas in the Examples section. But, to help you understand the power of formulas, here's a common example.

A common use case is keeping contacts synced across many systems. You might need to make sure that whenever a contact is added to Salesforce, it also syncs to HubSpot. To do this, you must first transform the data. Then, create a formula template that listens for updates to contacts in one API provider, and then pushes those contacts to another. After you set up the template, create a formula instance where you plug in Salesforce as the source element and HubSpot as the target element.

Definitions

To help you understand formulas, review the definitions in this section.

formula template

A reusable workflow that is independent of the element and includes the triggers, steps, and variables for a formula instance to execute the workflow.

formula instance

A specific instance of a formula template configured with explicit variables and associated with specific element instances.

trigger

An action that occurs and kicks off a formula. Triggers can be events set up on an element instance, an API call to an element instance, a scheduled occurrence, or manually triggered.

step

An individual step within a formula workflow that can include branches to subsequent success and failure steps.

variable

Variables that represent either element instances or specific values that must be supplied for each formula instance.

Formula Engine Versions

We support two versions of the formula engine: V1 and V3. All formulas created prior to 2018 were created with the V1 engine. The V3 engine utilizes many architectural and technological improvements to offer efficiency and performance gains. The V3 engine is the default engine for all new that are created via the UI.

While you can access the functionality to upgrade a formula through the Formula Edit page, we encourage you to contact Cloud Elements before doing so.

Note that there is some functionality that is supported by V1 but not V3. Single-threaded formulas and FaaRs are not supported for V3. There are also some legacy usage practices that are not supported in V3.